The Galvin Opinion

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Sunday, June 20, 2004

DANNY ALMONTE: IS THE PINOCCHIO LITTLE LEAGUER AT IT AGAIN?

Claims that his mother is dying of cancer in the Dominican Republic are being questioned

In 2001, it was discovered that Danny Almonte was way over the age limit for Little League players. His stepfather was banned from Little League after it was determined that he falsified the boy's birth certificate. Danny claimed to be 12 when he was actually 14 years old, helping his team by blasting opposing and younger batters to the Little League World Series.

Danny Almonte is now in high school. He recently pitched for his school's team into the New York City Championship at Shea Stadium. Almonte claims that his mother, Sonia Rojas, is dying of cancer in the Dominican Republican. Almonte has been appealing for help so that his mother can come to the United States and receive life-saving treatment.

As good-hearted New Yorkers scramble to help the ailing mother of pitching phenom Danny Almonte come to the United States to treat kidney cancer, an official says her claim is a ruse to get into the country. Roberto Valentin, a Dominican ambassador at-large, made the disturbing charge after visiting Danny's mother, Sonia Rojas Breton, 30, at her home in the Dominican Republic and noticed she is chatty, walking and not on her deathbed as previously reported.

Here are previous stories about Almonte and his plea to save his mother's life

Almonte said his 30-year-old mother has been sick for the past six years and needs expensive dialysis treatments every 20 days. Doctors have said an operation is not possible. "I need help urgently," Almonte told the Associated Press on Sunday. "Help me save my mother. It's urgent that my mother comes to the United States to receive the treatment she needs. She'll die quickly if she stays in the Dominican Republic."

Then, his focus shifted to his mother, who has had a tumor on her left kidney for the past six years and needs regular dialysis treatment. Doctors have said that an operation is not possible. "There is no cure," Rojas said. "It's like a death sentence." She receives two shots daily and needs dialysis every 20 days. The treatment costs about $500 a month, an exorbitant amount in this country. Rojas separated from her husband 14 years ago, and she cannot work because of her illness. In 2001, Rojas failed to obtain a U.S. visa to reunite with her son, who is now 17. It was not clear if she was reapplying for one.

"I don't want to die before I see Danny," Sonia Rojas, 30, told the Daily News from her home in the Dominican Republic. "I can't walk, I can't do anything because I feel so tired," said Rojas, adding that her body is swollen from water retention. She has not been able to come to the U.S. to visit Danny because she lacks money and a visa, she said.

If it turns out that his mother is not sick, it may very well be once again that adults are using the man's potential and baseball talent as a tool to enable their selfish and greedy ambitions to come true.